Near Wild Heaven
by Malana
Summary: X-Over with The West Wing. WillowCJ A Series on one-shot pov fics
1. Near Wild Heaven CJ

Title: Near Wild Heaven

Part of the REM Song Title Series

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: Joss, ME, ect own Willow. I think Warner Brothers owns The West Wing, and they 

can force Sorkin out of his job, but everything wonderful about TWW will always be his.

Spoilers: None.

Distribution: Want it, take it, just tell me

Feedback: Please!

Sam is going to hate me.

I mean, he's *really* going to hate me.

I'm in love with his cousin.

I'm in love with his *younger* cousin.

I'm in love with a 22 year old girl. Woman. I'm in love with a 22 year old *woman*. She is not a child. Though, as much as I tell myself that, I don't think Sam is going to care. I mean, Willow is his little cousin. She's always going to be his little cousin. She's 22 years old and I'm....well, I'm older.

The press is going to have a field day. "Senior member of the White House staff dating 22 year old girl" Because that's what she'll be to the press: a girl. Especially to the conservative press. It's a nightmare for the Communications Department. I really don't want to deal with it.

But I can't deny that I love her. We've been seeing each other for weeks, and eventually someone is going to find out. The White House will stand by me. I know that. I'm not doing anything illegal. I'm not even sure if I'm doing anything morally questionable. I mean, yes, she's young. But she is an adult. She's a beautiful, wonderful, intelligent, mature adult.

She's also a witch. And she kills vampires. I am aware of how insane that sounds. Vampires, I mean, yeah right. But I now know they exist. That's how Willow and I met. She saved my life. Willow's a grad student at Georgetown. Sam had invented the usual group out to a bar, to meet his cousin. Willow and I struck up an immediate friendship. That's all it was at first. I never expected it to become more than that. Anyway, I volunteered to walk her home, because she still didn't know the area really well. We were headed back to her apartment, when we were attacked. At first I just thought it was a mugger, then I saw his face. Willow pulled out a stake, and suddenly the 'mugger' was dust.

I was more than a little surprised. My shock was obvious, and Willow invited me up for some tea. She explained everything to me: vampires, demons, slayers. It scared me, it still does. But I believe her.

We started going out to dinner once a week. Over the next few months, our relationship evolved. Then, one night in her apartment, when we were having coffee, she leaned over and kissed me. And I kissed her back.

And now I'm in love with a 22 year old woman. One who just happens to be a cousin of my coworker and friend. This is to work out badly. Sam's going to be pissed. It's not exactly going to be fun for my career either. The press is going to find out eventually. This administration has learned the hard way that secrets don't keep.

I can imagine the press briefing now. "CJ, would you care to comment on the rumors of your relationship with a Willow Rosenberg."

This is going to involve lots of meetings. Meetings with Leo, meetings with Toby, and meetings with Sam. That'll be great. "So, Sam, how do you think we should deal with my love affair with your cousin."

But even if Sam does hate me, even if I do get ripped apart by the press, I just don't care. Because when I see her red hair, when I see that smile that seems to light up the entire world, everything else fades away. I've been Catholic my entire life, and the closest I've ever felt to God is when I'm being bathed in her smile. When I see the love in her eyes, I know there's a heaven. And when her soft lips are pressed against mine, I know exactly what heaven must feel like. Because there can't be anything, on any plane of existence, that's better than her kiss.

END?


	2. At My Most Beautiful Willow

Title: At My Most Beautiful

Series: Near Wild Heaven Series, a sub-series of the REM Song Title Series

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: Joss, ME, ect own Willow. I think Warner Brothers owns The West Wing, and they can force Sorkin out of his job, but everything wonderful about TWW will always be his.

Spoilers: Assume up to the end of season 3 for TWW and through season 6 with BtVS. Tara was murdered, Willow went evil, went to England and recovered.

Distribution: Want it, take it, just tell me

Feedback: Please!

Note: This is a sequel to Near Wild Heaven. It just kind of made itself become a series.

Sam is going to be pissed.

I mean, he's *really* going to be pissed.

Maybe not at me. I'm his little cousin. He's never mad at me, except for that one time when I ruined his Spider-man comic book. But I was like, 5 years old then, so it doesn't really count.

Sam has always been like an older brother to me. When didn't see each other a lot when we were little, but as we both grew up, we stayed in touch. I was so excited for him when he started working for the Bartlet campaign. I glad that he quit Gage Whitney; defending big oil companies wasn't the thing for him. Then he became Deputy Director of Communications. It was a little harder to stay in touch then, he's got a really busy life now. But we still managed to e-mail each other every few weeks.

I never told Sam about the things that happened in Sunnydale. I didn't want to drag him into it. Sam was the first person in my family who I told about Tara. He was a little surprised, but he didn't care that I was gay. He was really happy for me. He would have liked Tara. Everybody liked Tara.

I really wanted to introduce her to Sam. But it was just too hard to get away from Sunnydale. First there was the Initiative, then there was Glory. Then Tara was murdered, and I did the crazy thing. I tried to end the world. Yet another thing that I couldn't tell Sam. He thought the reason I went to England was to deal with Tara's death. Which it was, in a way.

After England, I went back to Sunnydale for awhile. But it wasn't the same. How could it be? After the terrible things I had done....besides, Tara wasn't there. Everything in Sunnydale reminded me of her. So, I left. I applied at Georgetown, and I got in.

It was great. I could spend time with Sam. Busy as he was, we found time to have lunch a lot. Then one night he took me to a bar to meet his friends from work. I was a little overwhelmed, meeting all these people who worked at the White House. But it was great. Donna, Josh, Charlie, even Toby, they were all great.

And then, there was CJ.

CJ. I pretty much fell in love with her the instant we met. I hide it pretty well. I never thought I had anything even resembling a chance with her. I wonder what would have happened if we hadn't been attacked by vamps on the way back to my apartment that night. It gave me a chance to open up to her, to tell her everything. Well, not everything. I didn't tell her about the whole going crazy and almost destroying the world thing; that I admitted to her much later.

What I had with Tara was special. I'll always have a place inside me that's empty because of her death. I loved her more than I had ever loved anyone. She was my Goddess.

What I have with CJ isn't like that, not yet anyway. Don't get me wrong, I love her. But we've haven't been together all that long. Our relationship is still growing. But I'm optimistic that we're going to be together for a long time to come. We already have something special, but in time, I think we're going to have something absolutely spectacular.

I simply cannot get enough of her: the way her skin feels against mine, the way she smiles, the way she laughs. God, her laugh is amazing. It lights up the entire room. And when we kiss....I feel like the world is on fire.

But the most wondrous thing is one of the simplest things. I love the way she looks at me. Sometimes, when we meet for dinner, I'll notice her standing at the door of the restaurant, just watching me. I never feel as beautiful as when her her eyes are on me.

I really think I love this woman.

But, still, Sam's going to be pissed.

END

Next Part: Sam's POV


	3. Crazy Sam

Title:Crazy

Part of the Near Wild Heaven sub-series of the REM Song Title Series

Author: Malana

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: Joss, ME, ect own Willow. I think Warner Brothers owns The West Wing, and they can force Sorkin out of his job, but everything wonderful about TWW will always be his.

Spoilers: Assume up to the end of season 3 for TWW and through season 6 with BtVS. Tara was murdered, Willow went evil, went to England and recovered.

Distribution: Want it, take it, just tell me

Feedback: Please!

Note: I'm not sure who's POV I'm going to do in the future If you have any requests please e-mail me. Malana@mac.com

I'm not pleased.

I'm *really* not pleased.

It started out as a good day. I actually had a goodnight's sleep. I woke up refreshed, I had a good breakfast. For almost an entire hour everything was going well.

Then pretty much everything went to hell.

When I walked into my office in the morning, CJ was there. CJ sitting, unannounced, in my office first thing in the morning is never a good sign. Usually it means that she's going to yell at me about something. Previously I held the opinion that having CJ yell at you was the worst way to start a day.

It turns out I was wrong. The worst way to start a day is by yelling at CJ. I don't yell at CJ a lot. She's my friend, and also she, you know, scares the yell out of me. So, yes it wasn't the first times I've been pissed at CJ, but I have to say, I've never been quite this angry.

I guess I should explain that while the first thing I say when I walked into my office was CJ, the second thing was Willow. My baby cousin, Willow. Sure, maybe she's an adult now, but I'll always think of her as being like a kid sister to me.

I could tell Willow was nervous, and CJ seemed nervous too, which is never a good sign. CJ is one of the most level-headed women I've never met, so when she gets shaken, I get worried.

The first words out of CJ's mouth were "We want to tell you this before the press gets a hold of it."

That was pretty much the next sign that I was in for a bad day.

So, they told me they had been seeing each other for the past few months. Honest to God, I thought they were joking. I soon learned that they were being quite serious.

I'll admit it; I kind of flipped out. I started yelling. Then Willow started to cry, which caused CJ to start to yell. Which made me yell some more. It was a fun morning for me. Because, on the list of things I love to do, getting yelled at and making people cry are both right up there.

After a little while Willow couldn't handle it anymore and left the room. After that things just got worse. At the height of the argument CJ actually accused me of being homophobic. I don't think she really meant it, but it hurt. She knows me better than that. I don't care if she dates a woman, I don't care if Willow is gay. Hell, I was thrilled for her when she told me about Tara a few years ago. Just by talking to her on the phone, I could tell she was in love. Was I surprised when she told me she was gay? Sure, but I didn't care.

If CJ wants to date a woman, I'm fine with that. I just don't want her dating my cousin. I love CJ, I do. But first there's the age difference, then there's the press then, then there's the fact that my friend and co-worker is dating a girl I've always been protective of. Between the lesbian thing, the age thing, and the fact that Willow's my cousin, this is going to be in the press. It won't be terrible; it's not that big of a scandal, most people won't give a damn for more than a few days. But it's still going to be a thing. And I don't want Willow going through that. 

Willow is stronger than she looks; I know that. But I also know that there is still a lot of vulnerability in her. Tara died less than a year ago, part of her is still dealing with that, part of her will always be dealing with that. She should have to deal with the press. The tabloids will dig into her past; it's not going to be fun. I don't want to see her getting hurt.

I guess that's what it really comes down to. I know what happens to relationships involving White House staffers, especially when it comes to the Senior Staff. I mean look at us, none of us are in a solid relationship for long. Leo lost his wife to his job; Toby's still in love with Andi, but she's never going to take him back; Josh's relationship with Amy failed more than once, most likely because he's in love with Donna, but can't do anything about it, or even acknowledge it; CJ could never work things out with Danny, and just when things were about to happen with Simon, he was killed. My own love life is nothing to look up to, first my failed engagement with Lisa, than the disaster that was my relationship with Laurie, than there was the thing with Mallory that never really managed to get off the ground.

I don't' want Willow to get hurt. And I don't want to see CJ get hurt either. But there's nothing I can really do about it. So, upset as I may be, I told CJ and Willow that I would support there relationship. Seeing Willow's eyes light up at that moment almost made up for it all. She so desperately wanted me to be okay with it. 

And honestly, part of me is. I've seen that way they look at each other, and there's magic there. Even I can tell that they have something that's going to be really special. But I'm still pissed off. I'm still worried.

And to top it all off?

I agreed to tell Toby for them.

END

Next Part: Toby?


	4. Low Toby

Title: Low

Part of the Near Wild Heaven sub-series of the REM Song Title Series

Author: Malana

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: Joss, ME, ect own Willow. I think Warner Brothers owns The

West Wing, and they can force Sorkin out of his job, but everything wonderful about TWW will always be his.

Spoilers: Assume up to the end of season 3 for TWW and through season 6 with BtVS. Tara was murdered, Willow went evil, went to England and recovered.

Distribution: Want it, take it, just tell me

Feedback: Please!

Note: I'm not sure who's POV I'm going to do in the future If you have any requests please e-mail me. Malana@mac.com

I want to kill something.

With my bare hands, I want to kill something.

"Sam!" I yell my Deputy's name. I have no idea whether he is nearby or not; I don't care. If he's anywhere within range of my voice he better come running. I start counting under my breath. Before I get to 10 he's standing in front of me.

"Hey, Toby." He's obviously trying to hide he's nervousness, and it isn't working.

"Sam."

"I'm...uh...actually I'm glad you're here." Sam is looking around the room, he refuses to meet me eyes. "There's something I need to tell you about."

There it is. He knows. He knows something about this. I'm going to kill him. I grab the tabloid I've been holding under my arm, and shove it in front of his face. "Might you want to talk to me about this?"

He takes the paper from me and swallows nervously. He's eyes go wide as he looks at the picture on the front page. I guess he didn't know it had hit the press yet. Normally I don't put much stock in tabloids, but when there is clear photographic evidence...

I clear my throat, "Is this, or is this not a photograph of CJ making out with some girl?" You can't see the girl's face very clearly, but the woman in the photo is unmistakably CJ. 

"Yes...yes it is" Sam stammers.

"The tabloid say's the girl's 18. Congratulations Sam, I think your little thing with the hooker has finally been outdone." 

"Well, first of all it was a call girl, not a hooker." 

I have a strong urge to strangle him. "Sam, look at my face. Do you really think that I care about the hooker/call girl distinction right now."

Sam finally meets me eyes, then shakes his head. "Yeah, I guess not."

"An 18 year old, Sam!" I shout. "How long have you know about this?"

"She's 22, and I've know about it since yesterday morning, when CJ came and told me." He raises his voice as well. I can tell he's getting indignant.

"Why the hell didn't you make her come and tell me? Come to think of it, why didn't she come and see me first?" 

"I told CJ that I'd tell you about it. I planned on telling you yesterday, but we had to deal with the thing, and there wasn't time. If I had thought the press had anything, I would have came to you sooner. As to why CJ told me first...." He trails off a little, and I get the impression he's upset about something. It's hard to believe, but I get the feeling that Sam might be just as pissed off about this than I am. 

"It's Willow," he eventually manages to say.

I raise an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"The girl CJ is seeing, the girl in the picture, It's my cousin Willow."

I grab the tabloid back from Sam, and stare at the picture. He's right. It's Willow. I've only met the girl a few times, but it's definitely her. This just became even more of a story.

I let out a sigh. "So let me get this straight. The Press Secretary is dating a woman."

"Yeah," Sam replies.

"A 22 year old woman."

"Yeah."

"A 22 year old woman who just happens to be the cousin of the Deputy Communications Director."

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up."

Sam and I just stare at each other for a moment. Honestly, I don't even know what to do. I absentmindedly run a hand over my head. This is going to be one hell of a day.

"Sam, get CJ. We need to meet with Leo and Josh. And for God's sake, let's try to keep this off the President's desk until Senior Staff can talk to him. I don't want him to find out through an AP wire."

Sam nods, but doesn't move. He just stares at the floor.

"Sam? Are you actually planning on doing the things I just asked you to do?"

He continues to stand there for a moment. I think he's trying to decide whether to say something or not.

"Sam?" I can't keep the impatience out of my voice.

He looks up at me, "Are you okay with this, Toby?"

"I think it's quite obvious that I'm pretty pissed about this, Sam." 

"I mean, if it weren't for the whole press thing. If we didn't have to worry about public reaction, would you be okay with CJ dating Willow?"

I pause before I answer, not sure at what's he's getting at, "Sam, have I done anything in the past to make you think that I'm in any way homophobic?"

Sam shakes his head. "No, of course not. That's not what I meant. Just, never mind. Never mind." He turns and goes to leave.

"Sam, what are you talking about? I mean, putting all the scandal stuff aside, why would I care who CJ dates?"

He stares at me again for a moment, than shakes his head. "It's nothing, Toby, really. I'm going to go round up the others, okay?" He turns and leaves.

I sit down heavily at my desk. What the hell had Sam been getting at? I don't care who CJ is dating. Why would I? I don't.

I don't.

END

A/N: I don't know who's POV I'm doing next, suggestions would be appreciated.


	5. Undertow Josh

Title: Undertow

Part of the Near Wild Heaven sub-series of the REM Song Title Series

Author: Malana

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: Joss, ME, ect own Willow. Warner Brothers owns The West Wing, and they can force Sorkin out of his job, but everything wonderful about TWW will always be his.

Spoilers: West Wing: Up through the re-election, but Sam stayed. Buffy: AU after Season Six. Angel: AU after season 3. Cordelia never slept with Conner and she never went evil.

with BtVS. Tara was murdered, Willow went evil, went to England and recovered.

Distribution: Want it, take it, just tell me

Feedback: Please!

Note: I think I've finally got the order stories worked out. If you want it, e-mail me off-list at 

Malana@mac.com

When I got called into Toby's office, I knew something was wrong. I walked in to find that Sam and CJ were already there. Quite frankly I thought that Sam had screwed up something again. I never thought that it could be CJ who was in trouble.

I mean, it's CJ. Sure, she's made some mistakes, let us not forget the "the President is relieved" debacle. But if you compare her mistakes to the things that Sam has done, or Toby, or the things that I've done, there's just no comparison. CJ is the one who yells at us when we screw up. She's often the one who fixes our mistakes. She'll go do her thing in the press room, and everything will be better.

I don't' know who things are going to work this time. In all honesty, it isn't that huge of a story. She's done nothing wrong. Sure, Willow's a lot younger than CJ, but she's an adult. The thing is, with stories like this, there doesn't have to be a real issue. The tabloids will run with it, and most of the main-stream press will to, though hopefully their articles will be a little more tasteful. It isn't even really a scandal, sure the radical right will attack us, but we'll be able to fight them. The real issue is whether or not the public will decide to care about it. If they do, the really issues will get buried for a while. Instead of answering questions on our new crime bill, she's going to be asked about her personal life.

CJ is already one of the most visible members of the staff. This is just going to make things worse. She doesn't deserve this. I am worried about the fiasco this might cause. But mostly I'm just worried about CJ. I was more than a little surprised to hear she was dating a woman. I was even more surprised to find out that woman was Sam's cousin. But I don't care who she dates; I certainly don't care if she's gay, or bisexual, or...whatever.

This shouldn't be a story. It just shouldn't be. But it's going to be. It's going to be a thing, and we're going to have to deal with it. We're going to have to have some sort of reaction for the press. This is probably going to spark a debate on gay rights. We're going to have to decide whether we want CJ in the briefing room this afternoon, now that the story has broken.

I somehow thought that if we won re-election things would get easier. We have nothing left to run for. I thought we'd be able to take greater chances, and fight harder for our causes. I thought we'd be able to care less about public opinion. We have three and a half years left. We should be fighting important battles. But I don't know if we're ever going to get a chance to.

Don't get me wrong; we've accomplished some great stuff in the past term. But I can't help but wonder how much more we could have done. I wonder what we could achieve if we didn't keep getting bogged down by the petty politics of the political world. Politics should be a wonderful thing; it should be a system that everyone admires; it should be so much greater than it is. I love my job, I really do. There are days, when I working on getting votes for bill, or advising the President on something, when I really feel that I'm part of something extraordinary.

But there are times when I get so discouraged. There are times when I'm disenchanted with all of it, with the press, with the public, with congress, with the President, even with myself. I want to pursue grand dreams. I want to fight the good fight. Instead I have to figure out a way to keep the press off of CJ's back. I'm so sick of these stupid little battles, these inane things that people decide to care about.

Now CJ is going to have to deal with more invasion into her personal life. God damnit, she shouldnÕt have to deal with this shit. No one should care who she's dating. It shouldn't be an issue if the Press Secretary is gay. Hell, it shouldn't be an issue if the President was gay. It's not like CJ hasn't had enough to deal with in the past year. Death threats, Simon Donovan's murder, her father's Alzheimer's...she's had a tough time, and she shouldn't have this added onto it. CJ's strong, she's amazing like that, but there's only so much a person can take. And it's not exactly like she has a low stress job or anything.

Whatever problems it's going to cause, I'm glad she has Willow. I don't know Willow really well; I've just had drinks with her and the rest of the guys a few times. But I do know that I like her. She's intelligent, funny, and seems to care deeply about the world around her. Those are all words I could use to describe CJ too. From what I saw in CJ's eyes in those five minutes in Toby's office, she's crazy about Willow.

I just hope that this thing doesn't destroy any of CJ's happiness. It's hard to maintain a relationship in the world we live and work in. Our lives revolve around the White House, and that can be hard. This White House has helped destroy two of my friendsÕ marriages, it's ruined countless relationships for the rest of us. When you add in the fact that this relationship is going to be front-page news, things don't look good.

We're all fighting a battle to keep our heads above water. I have a bad feeling that one of these days, one of us is going to get pulled under. There are only so many times you can cheat death. There are sharks all around us, and soon, what little luck we have might just run out.


End file.
